Wednesday, 23 February 2011

I found this video today, showing statues underwater in Cancun, acting as fake coral reef. They are sculpted in special concrete that is marine life friendly, so they are covered in algae, and are attracting fish etc

Its surreal to see statues of humans working in offices and from different cultures, sitting in a coral reef. As time goes by, they will look even more "natural"

I haven't made anything this week so far.I'm meant to be sculpting pieces in silver for an upcoming enamelling course...maybe I'll get some made today.

I've ordered the essential enamel tools, and the all important enamel samples.Maybe the cost of this is killing my mojo today :(

Sunday, 20 February 2011

I'm still loving my new Bronze clay sculpting.
I am starting to think, it might be my new favourite medium - I'm afraid it does have to do with cost.I subconsciously design smaller pieces in silver, because I'm aware of how much an ounce is costing me

The price of silver is becoming extortionate, whereas Bronze is extremely affordable.Of course this means I can charge less to potential customers, so everyone wins.

Its a bracelet of twigs and branches, covered in little leaves and fungal forms. The piece is sculpted in bronze, and is embellished with Jade beads.
I love the contrast, and the green tones of the beads, adds to that forest feel

Its really comfy to where to0 - I've been wearing it all day yesterday.I couldn't help it LOL

All the images are clickable thumbnails. That way you get some lovely closeups of the details

Thursday, 17 February 2011

Spring hasn't quite sprung here yet, but I am lucky to be surrounded by a mini belt of natural woodland.

The latest pendant is influenced by the plethora of lichen, moss and fungi covering the trees, that I can see from my window.

Some people are huge fans of this kind of flora and fauna.Flickr has whole groups dedicated to the subject. I used a couple of pics from this group to base my piece on.The original photos can be found HERE

I love the fungal forms in this image...

...and the colours and textures in this image

The pendant is sculpted in Bronze, with a small focal point of fungi.
An inlay of polymer clay has been textured and painted to mimic the lichen and moss

Tuesday, 15 February 2011

My new piece is an Aztec Jewellery inspired pendant
Here is a typical example

This one is made in Bronze, using the Fastfire Bronze clay, I mentioned in the last post
I found it really easy to work with, and even managed to make the snake like coils, and ball embellishments, that I tend to favour in my designs

The finished effect was actually a light gold coloured bronze. I added a torch fired patina, which gave off deep gold and green hues, that for the life of me, I couldn't capture on camera LOL.
It's so much nicer "in person"

I took some close ups to show the textured details, and a little pic to show its true size to scale, with it in my hand

Saturday, 12 February 2011

This was my first experience with Bronze clay of any kind.
I chose the FastFire version (from metal clay adventures),because its firing properties seemed similar to the artclay silver I'm used to

I also used the Cool Tools brand of no flake foil, to avoid the spalling and sooty mess, you get with a steel pan. You create a box, by folding it, origami style, and cut some slits on the top lid for ventilation

What I didn't factor in, was that in my experience, the flake foil box allows the kiln temperature to permeate the piece, better than the steel pan, so it sent the prescribed firing temperatures out of whack.

Most first time FastFire Bronze clay users according to their blogs, found they had to increase the ramp, or holding kiln temperature to ensure the test piece is fully sintered

My problem was the reverse.I fired the test piece at 1525 F/830 C, holding for 2 hours, as recommended. This resulted in a very blistered, deformed thing emerging from the kiln, as you can see

I lowered the holding temp to 816 C, and the blistering was still present, but to a lesser extent

Finally at 800 C, the same temp as I fire my silver clay, the piece came out fine.This temp is significantly lower than most of the anecdotal reports I've seen on blogs

So I thought I'd document the blistering time I had, in case it comes in handy for someone else.(Btw, the kiln is a Paragon SC2 and the piece was fully sintered, no breaking or cracks even at that low temperature)

Wednesday, 9 February 2011

These three pendants were inspired by the concept of turbulence, or disruption to your natural flow. I like the idea, that the way we overcome our obstacles, can make for a more convoluted journey through life. However the outcome maybe more beautiful overall.

Friday, 4 February 2011

I haven't made anything since my last post.
A book on enamelling landed on my doorstep this Monday, and I haven't been able to put it down!

Its called the Art of Enamelling by Linda Darty.
I have been dying to do some enamelling on my silver clay creations for ages. Its the perfect combination, of painting, sculpting in metal and wire work - my three great creative loves. So it's kind of tailor made, but always seemed so out of reach

Anyway, I'm going on a course next month, and have read up on so much, that it feels achievable now. So yay! a happy camper today :)

Tuesday, 1 February 2011

I made another Venetian Mardi Gras mask, they take a few days to complete but are addictive to create.

This one is inspired by forest foliage, all yellows and greens.
The background "faded wallpaper" was made by painting layers upon layers, in acrylic paints. I love the effect.It is framed in embossed gold, with polymer clay moulded art deco pieces.

The mask of her highness itself is a riot of yellow/green gradients. I couldn't settle on a particular colour, so I kept overlaying more shades on.

Both masks I've made so far, are sitting on my studio wall, in full view when I'm working. They are very inspiring, and will hopefully act as my muses :)

USEFUL LINKS

Jewellery Slideshow

Search this blog

About Me

Art therapy has always been a lifeline for my mental wellbeing. I was mainly into water colour painting and amateur sculpting in mixed media.
As it happens in life, major personal events forced me to change careers, and I discovered jewellery making, as a creative outlet
Now it is my main passion, I enjoy exploring all forms and techniques in jewellery making, and am still learning. People close to me have encouraged me to start a shop which is linked above.I'm aiming to carve out a new career doing something I truly love
Hope you like my pieces :)
Thanks for visiting

FEEDJIT Live Traffic Feed

Welcome to Amadora Designs Blog

I blog mainly about inspirations for jewellery making.It is a personal blog, as well as an accompaniment to the online shop
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The About This Blog Page has more info on what you will find here
Thanks for visiting :)
Samantha Braund

FEATURED COLLECTIONS

In store now....
ANCIENT GREEK
GODDESSES
~~~~~
This is one of the featured collections
All of them are shown here at the Gallery